


It's Barbaric, But Hey It's Home

by xo_princess



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: Human trafficing, M/M, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-12 02:06:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7916224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xo_princess/pseuds/xo_princess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If it was daytime and the club was completely empty, Dick would have never guessed it was a sex club. Currently, a quick glance around the large room made it very clear that it was." </p><p>Or.</p><p>The one where Dick and Damian go undercover to stop a human trafficking ring.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Barbaric, But Hey It's Home

**Author's Note:**

> Go easy on me. I don't write very often. I also suck so, there's that. This isn't nearly as smutty as it sounds by the way.
> 
> Ps. Check out this great art by Izumo: https://68.media.tumblr.com/c77f830a5a782849c6b67c645cf0e036/tumblr_ojihwujsoH1w2hz0no1_1280.png

Dick didn’t like this. He didn’t like it one bit.

“Sultan’s Palace” was a new club in an old building just west of downtown Gotham. For being in such a crappy location, the club’s interior was rather swanky. There was a clear Middle Eastern theme to the décor, and it was tastefully done. If it was daytime and the club was completely empty, Dick would have never guessed it was a sex club. Currently, a quick glance around the large room made it very clear that it was.  
Behind the bar was a caged box with naked dancers. A man led two women across the dance floor by leather leashes attached to jeweled collars around their necks. People were literally fucking each other on the dance floor. Some patrons had whips and chains. Many were dressed to play along with the theme of the club. Dick would never be able to watch Aladdin again.

Making a quick glance behind him, Dick surveyed Damian for the second time since they walked in less than one minute ago. The teen was shirtless, his tanned muscles shining in the glow of the flashing lights. He had grown broader over the years, but was still slimmer than Dick. There was a silver chain wrapped closely around his neck. What really made Dick, and a few others close by, stare was the thin chain attached to the silver choker necklace making its way down the flat chest and then splitting to attach to two silver nipple piercings. Although Dick knew they weren’t real, no one else would notice.

  
More silver chains decorated Damian’s stomach. His pants were a dark purple. The fabric was light-weight, flowy. They hid the two knives located on Damian’s inner ankle perfectly, but no one was going to be looking at Damian’s ankles. The sides of the pants were open in a long, oval shape around the thighs so that the outer skin could be easily seen.  
Or touched, Dick thought before mentally checking himself. They were undercover on a mission, a mission that would most likely test his self-control.

  
-

  
“I can do this, Grayson.” Damian was determined. “I’m the only one who can. It’s the only way we’ll be able to bring down this new boss.” Damian didn’t need to say it. Dick already knew. They had busted this same slave auction ring three times in the past two months as Batman and Robin, and each time it was only down for a few weeks before it was up and running again in a new location. They needed to go in and find hard evidence on the leader.

  
“We could ask Colin?” That comment got Dick a very dark glare.

  
Dick had spent the last hour trying to convince Damian not to do this. There had to be someone else, anyone else for this mission other than his boyfriend, who was still a teenager. His boyfriend, who in the past eight months of dating, Dick hadn’t gone beyond second base with because he didn’t want to push the kid into giving up anything he wasn’t ready for just yet. It was his boyfriend who was willingly volunteering to play the role of a sex slave. Granted, it was to stop a drug and trafficking lord, but still.  
They’d have to change Damian’s appearance for this to work. Colored contacts to change deep blue eyes into emerald green. A quick tanning session to get Damian’s already tanned skin a shade darker. Dick wondered if they should change the hair. Dick loved Damian’s hair.

  
“Trust me,” Damian looked up at him pleading. Dick didn’t understand why Damian was still so eager to prove himself. He’d never once doubted Damian. “Dick, let me do this.” Dick was never good at telling him no. But he wasn’t going to like this.

  
-

  
Dick wasn’t the only one in the main room wearing a suit but he was most attractive one, even with the blonde wig he was sporting. It was an expressive three piece he had borrowed from the back of Bruce’s closet. He was hoping the man wouldn’t notice when he returned from his month long trip to China. His face was covered in dark tinted sunglasses also borrowed from Bruce. Right now, he was hoping it was covering up his blush. None of this was new to Dick. He had been to these kinds of clubs before, and he had his fair share of girlfriends in the past who enjoy kinkier sexy times. But this was his first time seeing Damian in something like this, in this kind of environment. Dick was trying to hide the physical affects it was having on him.

  
On the other hand, Damian looked as controlled as always. His eyes were sharp and alert as they scanned the club. Dick had pulled them over to the bar and taken a seat. Damian stood quietly at his side, but had wrapped both arms around his partner’s bicep. Damian was clearly the youngest member in the room. He looked more youthful than he was, and he was young to begin with. A fact Dick remorsefully thought about every day. He should have waited for Damian to at least hit his twenties before he started dating him… But Damian was persistent.

  
“You gotta nice view in there,” Jason’s voice reminded him that they weren’t alone in this. Red Hood and Batgirl were posted on a rooftop close by with a video feed link to the camera on the top button of Dick’s suit. It was good to know someone was there to back them up if things went south. “I ain’t talking bout the crowd either. Baby Bird is looking very tempting.” And now Dick wasn’t feeling as good about his backup.

  
“You can look, but remember where you belong.” Dick said out loud to Damian for show, but Jason would know it was for him. Dick’s jersey boy accent was flat and slightly nasally, and he could hear Barbara’s choked giggling in his ear. Damian put his mouth right against Dick’s ear to reply. Dick tried not to flinch. At what point Damian start affecting him so much, Dick wasn’t sure. He remembers the first time Damian brought home a girl, and he was proud. The first time Damian brought home a boy, Dick was jealous. All his emotions he had apparently been unconscionably repressing over the years had boiled to the surface.

  
Damian was all business, pointing out the security cameras. He noted the bodyguards around certain individuals, and the six armed bouncers stationed around the main room. Even the bartenders were armed. There was a larger bouncer guarding what Dick assumed was a back room. They would need to get back there. According to their informant, only exceptional attractive or wealthy patrons were invited to the backroom. They were both. As Dick was wondering how long it would take for them to be approached, a man in a white sleeveless thawb made his way across the room towards them. Damian’s fingers, which had been running up and down Dick’s arm, hesitated from moment before continuing.

  
Jason’s voice rang in his earpiece again, “Not bad, D. Only eight minutes and they’re already moving ya up to first class. If it were me though, I would have moved on Dami the moment the little brat walked through the door.” Jason liked to get a raise out of Dick. Jason knew Damian didn’t have an earpiece, so the prodding was more direct than usual. Jason had tried to talk like that in front of the youngest Robin once before, and he had almost gotten his tongue cut out.

  
“Keep the com clear, Hood. For your own safety.” A female voice cut in before Dick could reply.

Thank the heavens for Barbara.

  
The man asked Dick if he had everything he desire, and Dick indicated he was seeking something a little more unethical while dropping the codeword their informant had ensured would get them passed the backroom and into the trafficking auction. They were directed to the backroom entrance, their guide had addressed as the Sultan’s Chamber. Along the hallway were smaller rooms, blocked off by only curtains. Some curtains were open, empty beds waiting to be used. Others were closed, and Dick wasn’t sure he wanted to see the other sides with the noises he was hearing. Damian was straight faced, walking slightly behind Dick. If any of this was bothering him, Dick couldn’t tell. All these years and Dick still had trouble reading Damian when his shields were up.

  
After passing through another security check, Dick was deemed safe to enter the Sultan’s Chamber once providing identification and signing a confidentiality waiver. The large man at the door looked Dick over after checking his id card, “You one of Malone’s boys?” Dick gave a nod. The guard barely acknowledged Damian; he didn’t look any closer for weapons. Bad move, Dick thought.

  
The Sultan’s Chamber had a more lounge atmosphere than the main part of the club. There was a bar and acoustic music playing in the background; most of the patrons looked more wealthy and were busy with talking raather than dancing and taking shots. The stage located at the back of the room had tables and sofas surrounding it, but there was no performance playing. A man with hair blonder than the wig Dick was wearing met them at the bar. He introduced himself as the Sultan. He wasn’t Arab and didn’t have an accent, but he was wearing an outfit Dick could only imagine a Romanian prince would wear. His smile was flashy and he talked a lot with his hands. He reminded Dick of a car sale man, and he was finding it hard to believe this was their mastermind.

  
His lustful eyes ranked over Damian’s whole body. Damian moved slightly closer to Dick. “Stop me if I’m being too forward. Do you ever share your little pet? He seems so well behaved.” The Sultan must have noticed Dick’s hesitation because he added, “Or perhaps, you would be up for a trade… Or maybe you could rent him to me for the night. Everyone does have their price.”  
Dick tried to keep his voice steady. He had wrapped a protective arm around Damian’s waist. “Who did you have in mind to trade? Where is your,” Dick tried to sound interested and not pissed off, “pet”?  
The Sultan laughed. “We have plenty of them here, my friend. Some of which I’m sure,” his eyes never leaving Damian’s nipples, “would met your fine taste. You’ll see during the auction. May I?”

  
He reached his hand forward touch Damian and Dick slapped it away without thinking.

  
“Easy, Wing. You knew this was going to happen. We need this loser for evidence,” Barbara reasoned over the com. And yeah, Dick knew people were going to be staring at him and Damian. He thought maybe the two of them would have to snog publicly, but he wasn’t expecting other people to be touching his boyfriend.  
Dick had to apologize to the Sultan. He gave an excuse of being over protective with this particular pet but he was starting to panic slightly.

  
“It’s my fault, sir.” Dick glared towards Damian. He was supposed to stay quiet, but what he saw stopped him from shhing the teen. Damian had a pink blush across his face. He was holding his hands in front of himself very timidly. He looked up through those thick lashes before saying, “I’m still in my training and I’m not very good with pleasing other people yet. I’ve only ever been with my master, but if he wishes to see me with someone else…” Damian locked eyes with Dick’s. God, the teen was sexy all coy. Where the hell was this coming from? “I only wish to please my master.” Dick struggled to keep his jaw drop from dropping.

  
“What a sweet, innocent thing you’ve found for yourself,” the Sultan cooed over Damian. “I can see why you’d want to hide him away, but I assure you there is a pleasure to be found in watching a pet with another.” He motioned for them to move towards the stage, “Tonight’s auction will be starting soon and if you find someone you’d like for the night for, simply give me the words and I will make the arrangements.”

  
-

  
Dick hated this. This was the worst.

  
He was seated on a red love seat in front the stage. He’d thrown an arm around Damian’s shoulders, but the Sultan was on the other side of Damian. His pale hand was placed on Damian’s thigh, as if he wasn’t having an in-depth conversation with Dick about the current Gotham political race. Around them were other men and women in chairs and on sofas. Some seemed to be half paying attention to the auction when it first began as others were much more focused. The man in the chair to their left had a young woman on her knees between his legs, but was biding silently on the young red-headed female on the stage.  
She was twenty-four and straight off a boat from Ireland, the Sultan had told Dick. She was fair skinned and slightly freckled with a body that reminded Dick of Kori. “A touch too old for your taste, I’d imagine.” Dick felt sick, because it wasn’t a lie. Dick found comfort in the fact that he wasn’t into all teenagers, just the one. Only Damian.

  
The Sultan waved to a man in a sleeveless thawb, and the man disappeared behind a curtain. Not long after, a very young and very scared looking boy was brought out onto the stage. The boy must have been younger than Damian, but their physical traits favored each other. He was wearing white straps of fabric for clothing, and his hands were bound behind his back with red rope.  
This should be enough. The video footage of the auction along with the Sultan’s statements would be enough to shut this place down and have this creep thrown into jail. But Dick still felt there was more going on here, someone else calling the shots. He also was starting to get a bad feeling. He wanted to get Damian out of here as soon as possible.

  
The bids were going higher and higher. Dick asked if the Sultan would still be willing to trade such high price in exchange for Damian. This could be their way out. The Sultan gave an effortless laugh. “Not an issue, my friend. You see, the moment your little pup walked through the door of Sultan’s Palace, he caught my employer’s interest. It’s a very hard task to accomplish. It is a great commendation indeed. He never has interest in the merchandise. Name your price. My employer will have your pet tonight,” the Sultan was still giving his friendly grin, “with or without your consent.”  
Ah hell, Dick thought. He knew there had to be someone else other than this dimwit making the calls. He wondered what he should do. Damian looked up from under his arm, and gave a trusting nod.  
Barbara voiced a plan over the com. She didn’t like the idea of sending Damian to meet the boss alone any more than Dick did. They needed to meet this employer, get him on the feed as the clear leader of the club if they really wanted to cut the head off this snake of a place.

  
“Look mate, my boss doesn’t like threats.” Dick warned.

  
The other man laughed, “Neither does mine. He also doesn’t like to waste time. Time is money.”  
The Sultan was in the process of excusing himself to attend to other guests as his guards moved in on them when Dick interrupted him. “Mr. Matches actually sent me here for business and not pleasure. This joint seems like a great investment. I don’t see why we can’t reach an agreement. I don’t see why both our bosses can’t be happy.” The Sultan called off the guards with a wave of his hand. He seemed skeptical that Matches Malone would be interested in investing in the club, but Dick promised to make it happen. “You must get some really great perks investing in a joint like this,” Dick questioned and the other man quickly agreed but was still hesitate to the idea.

  
“You gotta offer up Baby Bird,” Jason ordered over the com channel. Dick wavered before giving in to the idea.  
He looked over to Damian, hoping he could understand what Dick was attempting to telepathically say. Damian didn’t have to do this if he didn’t want. He had nothing to prove. Dick turned back to the Sultan and added, “It’d be a shame if your boss never gets to meet this sweet one.”

  
Damian, who had been uncharacteristically quiet through all this, reached out to grab the Sultan’s hand. He held the hand up to his face and leaned into it. “Please sir, let my master and I try to convince your boss that a partnership would be pleasing to everyone.” And that was it, the Sultan melted into a puddle like putty in Damian’s hands. Dick couldn’t blame him.

  
-

  
“I don’t like this,” Dick said. “Jason, he won’t know what to do. He’s never done anything like this. I don’t even think he’s been to a strip club, let alone a sex club, let alone undercover!” He was starting to raise his voice, not that it mattered in the cave anyway.  
“I took him to a strip club for Roy’s birthday last year, Dickie, and guess what? He fucking liked it. Plus, I bet you screwed all the innocence out of the kid the first month you two love birds started going at it. I know I woulda.”

  
Dick shot him a death dare, but didn’t say anything. And the silence was enough for Jason to figure it out. “No fucking way,” his counterpart spat out with a laugh. “You haven’t done it with the brat yet? You gotta be fucking kidding me!” Dick didn’t appreciate Jason’s mocking laughter.

  
He gave a deep sigh before replying, “I’m trying to take it slow. This has to be his first physically relationship. I don’t want to,” Dick paused, “pressure him into anything he doesn’t want”.

  
“It’s your first male relationship too, if I ain’t mistaken,” Jason questioned. “You nervous you’ll mess it up, Dickie? The high and mighty sex-god Richard Grayson thinks he can’t please a bratty assassin.”

  
“Damian’s gender has nothing to do with this,” Dick rubbed at his temple. He was over this conversation. “I really care about him, and I want this to last. I want it to be forever and I’ve never really wanted that before, not like this. But I’ve had other relationships. I’ve had the experiences to know what I want, what I like and don’t like. But Damian, how can he know what he likes if I’m all he’ll ever have.” Dick loved that he’d be Damian’s only. He didn’t want to imagine his boyfriend with someone else. He was being selfish, but he couldn’t help it. His heart and his mind were struggling over what he knew was right and what he really wanted. “When he’s older, will he regret chosen me?”

  
Jason had calmed down from his laughing, and walked around to place his hand on Dick’s shoulder. “Trust me, Damian wants you. We can all see it because he makes it loud and clear. If he didn’t want you, you would tell ya and then beat the shit outta ya. The brat isn’t the type to try to spare feelings. He beat me up with a crow bar once, remember.” Dick had to smile at that. “If he didn’t want this mission, he wouldn’t do it. Trust him.”'

  
“I do.”

-

  
Behind the bar was a door which led to the basement. The Sultan, Dick and Damian passed two more armed guards on the way down. It looked like a classy office space. There were work desks and plenty of closed doors, and Dick wondered what was behind them.  
They were led into a room that looked like the main office. “Here we are, gentlemen,” the Sultan gave a hasty bow, and turned to leave quickly shutting the door on his way out. “Mr. Nasser has waited long enough.”

  
Damian had grabbed Dick’s arm quickly, and turned to open the door behind them only to find it locked. Damian moved to ram the door with his shoulder but it wouldn’t budge. His partner was panicked and on high alert and Dick couldn’t figure out why. Damian was going to blow their cover. Dick was pushed behind Damian, who was standing protectively in front of him.  
Dick took in their surroundings. There was a black leather sofa, a wooden desk, and then Dick spotted the man sitting in the lounge chair in the corner. It was dark, so Dick couldn’t make out his features, but he was broad, probably tall.

  
“Why are y-” Dick tried to question, but Damian interjected quickly. “Our cover was blown the moment I walked through the front door.”  
He reached out to bring Damian back to his side, but the teen moved forward without warning. Faster than Dick could follow, Damian sprinted to attack Mr. Nasser as said man fired off a single shot from his handgun. Panic flooded Dick as he looked to Damian to make sure the shot had missed.  
It hadn’t.

  
Damian was to his side in a second, covering the wound on Dick’s shoulder. The man hadn’t been aiming for Damian, but for Dick. He fell into Damian’s arms and they both collapsed onto the floor. The shock was wearing off and the pain in his shoulder was starting to set in. He held back the grunt. Damian’s anger was blatant across his face. He shouted out something in Arabic, and Dick was really confused until he realized Damian wasn’t talking to him.

  
“Eshtaqto elaika katheera,” the man’s accent was heavy, but tone was making Dick uneasy.  
Damian riffed back, “Ya khara!” Dick really needed to learn more languages. Another time, he thought, when he wasn’t bleeding out and dizzy. He could hear Barbara and Jason arguing over the com, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.

  
Mr. Nasser moved forward so Dick could make out his appearance more easily. He was taller than Dick had first assumed. He was clearly from Arab decent, maybe Egyptian Dick thought. Even with his malice smile, Dick could see he was attractive, in a scary sort of way.

  
“You should be nice to me, Damian al Ghul.” The sound of Damian’s name on the man’s tongue made Dick’s chest tighten. “I’ve always been nice to you.”  
“Who is this prick?” Dick managed to say through his pain as he stood back up. He leaned into Damian for support.  
“You haven’t told your lover about me? My Prince, I’m hurt.” Mr. Nasser had moved back to sit in the chair, legs crossed and an amused look on his face. “Do you wish to tell him, or should I?”

  
Damian didn’t answer. He wasn’t making eye contact with either of the men in the room. He gave a flustered huff, and then his signature “Tt” and his walls were back up. His face was perfectly blank as looked up. When Dick winces, it isn’t from the pain, but Damian’s words. “Malik and I know each other intimately.”

  
Dick officially hated this.

  
-

  
“I’ve told you about my teachers. I had many of them. Experts in their different fields, who were hand selected to instruct me.” Damian had told him. He had been watching Damian paint one day, beautiful scenes of foreign lands with perfect strokes of the brush. Dick had asked him where he’d learned, and Damian had told him with shame heavy in his voice. His teachers were all master from around the whole. Damian was to surpass them all, and when he did surpass them… “Remember son, their deaths serve a greater good by strengthening you. You are the future leader. It is your right.” Dick wondered if Talia would always be haunting Damian.

  
“Malik was one of my teachers,” Damian stated. “One of the few I never exceeded. I was punished greatly for it.”  
In his earpiece, he could Jason and Barbara confirmation that they had taken control over the first floor and was making their way to the basement. They’d called for backup already. They just had to hold out for a few more minutes.

  
“What was he teaching you, Damian? Tell me,” Dick managed to spat out.

  
Mr. Nasser, Malik answered instead, “The art of sex and seduction.

  
He was a natural, my Damian. By the time I was done with him, he could be even more alluring than Talia and thus, more deadly. But in order to complete his training, Damian had to kill me and he wouldn’t.” Malik sounded smug. “He had fallen in love with me”.

  
Dick looked to Damian for a denial, but the teen had only lowered his head. Outside the door, Dick could hear the gunfire getting closer.  
“He loved me. He’d do anything I want,” Malik said as he stood up and walked over to them. “You still do. Isn’t that true, my Prince.” It was a statement and not a question. He was close enough to wrap a hand around the chain on Damian’s chest. Dick moved forward to push Malik away, but was met with the barrel of a gun at his face. “Come with me, Damian. You belong to me, at my side.”

  
He pulled on the chain, tugging Damian closer to him. Dick’s eyes widened when Damian moaned. Malik whispered something to Damian in the same language that Dick couldn’t understand. Damian molded his body to the other man’s, rolling his hips in a why Dick didn’t know his boyfriend was capable of. Malik’s mouth slid from Damian’s ear to his neck, but his eyes were looking straight at Dick. “He’s needier than I remember. Maybe you are not his lover? Have you been saving yourself for me all these years, little one?”

  
“Only for my one love,” Damian moaned out.

  
This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Malik used one hand on Damian’s hip to turn him around. Dick and Damian were only feet away from each other when their eyes met, but to Dick it felt like a mile. The thick accent burned Dick’s ears. “Speak the truth, my prince. Tell him what he needs to hear and then we shall show him to make sure he fully understands.”  
“I was never yours,” Damian said it with such confidence. “You are not worthy of me.”

  
Eyes burning, Dick’s vision started to blur as tears threating to stream down his face. “Dick, you truly are idiotic if,” Dick braced for the words, “you think I’m talking to you.”

  
Dick was confused, but so was Malik. Damian used that confusion, throwing his head back to make contact with Malik’s nose. There was a slur of Arabic curses as Malik brought the gun up to take aim, but it was already too late. Damian had one knife in the flesh of Malik’s side, and one up at his throat already breaking the skin.

  
Damian’s voice was dark, “I could kill you now after what you’ve done to my partner, but he has taught me a different way. Your life is yours to keep today because of him. Remember his mercy.”  
Dick was grateful Damian thought so highly of him, but part of him wouldn’t mind Malik Nasser not being alive. There was bang, like someone smashing the lock off the door. The rest was a blur. Dick grabbed the gun from Malik as Red Hood and Batgirl stormed the room. GCPD was already inside the building making arrests and escorting victims out, Dick and Damian fading into the night as if they were never there.

  
-

  
It had been a week, and Damian was still avoiding him. Robin had been patrolling with Red Hood while Dick was still recovering from his shoulder wound. Tonight had been their first night back on patrol together and they hadn’t said much of anything to each other. Dick was running through everything he wanted to say to Damian in his head. He had questions, concerns, things he wanted Damian to know. Instead, while Damian was tossing his boots into his locker Dick muttered out a quick, “I miss you, Dami.”

  
Damian turned quickly to look at Dick as he replied, “Grayson, please don’t patronize me. I let you down. If I had told you about Malik, we might have been more prepaid. You might not have been shot. You could have been killed and it would have been my fault.” Damian’s voice was getting shakier the longer he spoke until he paused. He took a breath.

  
“As you know, my life as an al Ghul was filled with many travesties I do not deserve forgiveness for.” Another pause, another breath. “Malik was one of those travesties. When Mother gave the order to kill him, I could not. Malik had showed me the affection I hadn’t known before and I mistook that for love. Yet, it was not love that I felt for him. Until I knew my father, Alfred and even the others, I did not know what love was. Until I knew you, Dick. I love you. I’m sorry I’m not who you thought I was. I’m sorry that I’m…”

  
“I love you too.”

  
Dick moved, closing the place between them, grabbing Damian’s shoulders and pulling him in. “I love you,” he repeated before bringing his lips to gentle touch Damian’s. The younger man pushed forward to deepen the kiss before suddenly pulling back.

  
“Grayson, that night. Did you really believe I had betrayed you?”

  
He moved both hands to Damian’s hips, sealing their mouths together once more. “Not even a little.” Melting into kiss, Dick wasn’t expecting his boyfriend to bite down on his lower lip, hard.  
“Tt.”

  
“Maybe I doubted you a little. It won’t happen again,” he promised.


End file.
